Media Briefing – 06.17.2021
‘NEW FUTURES’
International Artist Aaron Li-Hill & Leading Climate Arts Initiative GreenPoint EARTH Realize New Street ‘Art + Purpose’ Mural about Youth & Nature Restoration
Located in Brooklyn, NYC
Produced in celebration of World Environment Day 2021
The Story Behind ‘New Futures’
This exciting mural collaboration began in mid-2019 and the location was originally planned to be at Intermediate School 318 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Production was held up due to COVID-19, and subsequently the location changed to a private building. also in Williamsburg.
GreenPoint Innovations and Li-Hill teamed up with a shared vision that a more sustainable world and future is possible if we can restore our natural ecosystems, which in turn will combat climate change, support public health, create jobs, promote food security, sustain biodiversity, and enhance global supply of natural freshwater.
Aligning with the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, and in recognition of youth and the leading role that is thrust upon them to ensure a more sustainable future, the mural incorporates imagery from a photoshoot the team had with students from Intermediate School 318. IS 318 is a long-time partner of GreenPoint, where the organization had previously produced murals in 2018 in collaboration with artists @sonnysundancer and @asvpart.
IS 318 is a public inner-city junior high school at 101 Walton Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New Yor1k City. Most of the school’s 1,623 students, who are sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders, are from Williamsburg. The
school has 134 teachers. Media Briefing – 06.17.2021
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The Artist – Aaron Li-Hill
(Website, Instagram – @li_hill, Facebook)
“This mural shines a light on the vital role of ecosystem restoration in tackling climate change and food system instability, while also supporting natural freshwater and public health.
Ecosystems are essential for all life on Earth however human activity has significantly depleted them. In fact, the world loses enough forests to cover a football pitch every three seconds. We must focus on restoring nature. Conservation is no longer enough.
This mural is for the youth, the world they will inherit, the challenges they will face, and the leading role that is thrust upon them in ensuring a more sustainable future. With the greatest fires this world has seen on the horizon, our youth’s struggle will be for all life on this planet“
Aaron Li-Hill is a Canadian visual artist based in Brooklyn, who employs painting, illustration, stenciling, and sculptural elements within his art. With a background in graffiti and mural painting and a degree in Fine Arts, his works range from smaller multiples to enormous murals that explore industrialization, scientific breakthrough, man versus nature and information saturation. Li-Hill possesses a BFA from OCADU and has worked and shown in cities such as Melbourne, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin and Hong Kong. He has also had works displayed in major institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria, The Art Gallery of Ontario, the Portsmouth Museum of Art in New Hampshire and the Honolulu Museum of Art.
The Initiative and Organization – GreenPoint
(Website – EARTH & Innovations, Instagram – Innovations & EARTH, Facebook)
GreenPoint Innovations began producing public ‘art plus purpose’ activations in New York City in 2016, expanding internationally in 2019 in collaboration with the United Nations Climate Change Conference. It’s GreenPoint EARTH charitable initiative serves as a collaborative creative hub to educate and inspire communities to act on climate and nature for a sustainable and prosperous future. Its mission is to raise awareness about environmental and public health impacts related to climate change and showcase eco-friendly and climate solutions. GreenPoint EARTH accepts tax-deductible donations to support its activations.
This special edition of GreenPoint EARTH with Li-Hill was made possible in large part by time and resources donated by GreenPoint Innovations and the artist, with paint materials donated by Mercury Paint. Additional support was provided by the wall owner, Mirtex, and local business, Broadway Stages.
Videography / Photography (attribution specified otherwise in filename)
Access here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rLL2jeidUbfsuiMGokY58XXh8ZUSrm2n?usp=sharing Media Briefing – 06.17.2021
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The Facts
Source: https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/
For too long, we have been exploiting and destroying our planet’s ecosystems. Every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pitch and over the last century we have destroyed half of our wetlands. As much as 50 per cent of our coral reefs have already been lost and up to 90 per cent of coral reefs could be lost by 2050, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5°C.
Ecosystem restoration means preventing, halting and reversing this damage – to go from exploiting nature to healing it. This World Environment Day will kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global mission to revive billions of hectares, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea.
Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change and stop the collapse of biodiversity.
Contact:
Stephen Donofrio, Founding Principal & Curator stephen@greenpointinnovations.com
+1 312 343 2226
Audrey Garcia, Press Contact (+34 610 54 83 08) Tess Cunliffe, Social Media Manager communications@greenpointinnovations.com